The Sitarian Cypher

Session 5

—Marcellus chases critter with Sir Dameon. Dr. Stone picks up the amulet left behind. We ride for Rashawn.

—Party passes by a large camp about a day’s ride away but decides not to visit.

—Valen visits party’s camp at night to imply we’d be welcome backup for his chat with that large camp of woodcutters a day’s ride away. (It’s a good chance to get a dryad to owe us a favor and get us into the Swap Meet.) Delphi offers to do this favor for Valen in exchange for him contacting his ranger friend “The Hawk” to help her track down Bismarck’s murderer. Next morning, we ride!

—Reach woodcutters’ camp. With Mal and Delphi beside him (Barlow, Doc, & Punch wait behind tree cover), Valen warns them, “Your overcutting is endangering the local fey. I’m not here to threaten you, but the forest is like a living body, defended from within. If you persist, you may need to be removed.” Party chimes in the local gnoll tribe shouldn’t deter them, because their king was driven off and they scattered. Delphi adds she doesn’t want this to come to violence, but it may. Scary Dr. Stone pops up. Woodsmen reluctantly back down and start packing.

Encounter 15: Who Killed Joe?/“Whooooo’s the Smartest Around Here?”

—Woodcutters find one of their own dead of claw wounds in his tent. They accuse our troglodyte. Delphi points out the claw marks are all wrong for our genius doctor but right for a wolf…or lycanthope! Mal remembers a camper said Joe had been bragging about killing a wolf. Dr. Stone deduces a werewolf killed Joe for revenge.

—Under cover of a camp-wide “syphilis test” the party tries to identify the werewolf (DR/silver), but finds none.

—At night the party sets watch for the lycanthrope under full moon. Maleficent gets chomped! Combat! Werewolf slain, turns out to be a visiting lumberjack woman. Dr. Stone gets bit in the fray, things could get hairy…